


Romancing a Vault Hunter 101

by Cr0wsnest



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, CEO Rhys (Borderlands), Giant Spiders, Love Confession, Other, Pre-War, Rhys is struggling, The after effects of Jack, They/Them Pronouns for Lorelei (Borderlands), They/Them Pronouns for Zer0 (Borderlands), baking cookies, going on adventures, happy ending :), no Katagawa in this, questionable froyo flavors, rated for language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 15:08:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29209389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cr0wsnest/pseuds/Cr0wsnest
Summary: Rhys physically cannot take it anymore. He has to ask Zer0 out or he’ll die. Worst case scenario, he’s rejected. He just has to get the courage (and the chance) to ask.
Relationships: Rhys/Zer0 (Borderlands)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 36





	1. 1

Let it be known that Vaughn was shit at romantic advice. 

“I don’t know. Why don’t you just leave a corpse at their door like cats do? I think they’d like that.”

“They’re not a cat!”

“Bro, didn’t you tell me you thought you heard them purring the other day?”

“I- I thought I did!” 

“So, give them a dead body! Vault Hunters love dead bodies!” Vaughn took another big bite of his froyo, body seizing as the inevitable brain freeze set in. 

Rhys sighed and traced mindless patterns across the table’s surface, “What if they say no?.. I mean, I’m just-“

“The CEO of a megamillion dollars weapons company? Just what, Bro? It’s no problem whether you deserve them or not it’s if they deserve you!” 

“Uh, that’s wrong. Vaughn, they’re a vault hunter. The best assassin in the universe! The mystery everyone wants solved! They killed Handsome Jack!”

“Which is kind of weird, all things considered. Your one fanboy crush killing another one. Didn’t you kill Jack too though?” 

Rhys rubbed his neck, “I mean, kinda, yeah, I guess, but—“ 

“Look, Rhys, whatever happens, just know… that we are all tired of your 2am ECHO calls and texts mooning over your bodyguard.” He grinned. 

“I don’t moon over them!” He flushed, trying to hide his face with his arm when he realized that several other occupants in the shop were staring.

Vaughn scoffed, raising the pitch of his voice higher to mock his friend, “ Vaughn, Zer0 just sliced someone in half! Vaughn, Zer0 brought me a donut! Vaughn, oh my God, Zer0 did the cool decepti0n thing for the millionth time! Vaughn, they breathed in front of me!!!” 

“I don’t-“ He cleared his throat, “I don’t sound like that…”

“You do, Bro. You really do. What do you even like abo-“ He clasped a hand over his own mouth before he could finish, but it was too late.

“Are you kidding, Vaughn?! Have you seen how cool they are?!” 

Rhys continued to gush for the next ten minutes. He honestly could have gone longer, and Vaughn knew this, so he interjected.

“It's up to you. Have you ever considered what will happen if they say ‘yes’ though?”

“Umm… I’ll be happy?”

Vaughn sighed, “I meant the gossip. You know how Helios was, people make up all kinds of rumors and scandals.”

“What could they possibly say?”

“Oh, well, I wonder, maybe that they only said yes because of your money. You only said yes because they held a sword to your throat. You only said you like them because it meant you could pay them less. You-“

“Okay, okay, okay! But… that’s… none of that would be true, so it’s fine.”

“I’m just warning you, Bro. This is a blood-sticky situation.” 

“Maybe you’re right, but I don’t think I can physically take not telling them any longer.”

Vaughn sighed, pushing his empty froyo cup to the side of the table, “I’ll be here for you either way, but if things go sour- I don’t stand a chance against them, Bro! I won’t be able to do the ‘don’t hurt my best friend or else’ bit.”

The CEO laughed softly, “Noted.”

Rhys didn’t go all out in the regular sense. Most people in a situation might give the object of their affections the day off, take them somewhere nice, out to dinner, and confess there. 

He knew that wasn’t their usual idea of a good time. 

“Pandora?” 

“Yeah! I thought it’d be a nice challenge compared to the boring stuff I always give you. Apparently, there’s this town called Thornewood…”

The world seemed to slow for Zer0, Rhys words blurring together. They hadn’t been sent that far away in a while. Why now? Did they upset him in some way?

“Did you get all that?”

Zer0’s screen flashed a bright ‘!’

“I’m sorry. I zoned out a bit. Won’t happen again.”

“You… zoned out? You never zone out. Are you okay?”

“Yes, I am okay. Have I upset you in some way? Pandora’s quite far.” 

“What? No! You haven’t- I just thought you’d enjoy going back.” 

“No vacation days. My job now is to keep you safe. Are you firing me?”

“No! God, no, Zer0!” Rhys ran a hand through his hair, exasperated, “I just- you don’t want to go back?” 

“Rather stay with you-” Their screen flickered three quick slashes for a split second, “As your bodyguard... I can go. Whatever you say.”

“Well, now I’m second guessing myself…” 

“What’s on Pandora? Is it urgent? Just important? 

“They’re trying to steal our weapon designs and sell them off. I need you to find out who it is and stop them.” 

“May take quite some time. Are you sure it’s safe to leave you?”

“You won’t be leaving me. I’m going with you.”

‘...’

Was that a good or bad reaction? 

“You will be going?” 

“Yeah. I’ve decided I’ve been stuck in this office too long. I need to do something exciting, you know?” He smiled nervously, “That… That okay?”

“It’s acceptable. Now more of a challenge for me. I will protect you.” 

Rhys shot up, “Great! And don’t worry, I’m putting Lorelei in charge while we’re gone!”

“Somehow worried more.” 

Rhys flapped his hands in excitement, “Okay, this is gonna be so cool! I mean, it’s not another vault or anything, but-“

He started to ramble. He wasn’t going to tell them that Lorelei only agreed because he literally begged on his knees and offered them a hundred dollar gift card to Rise and Grind. It would probably last them half the time that he and Zer0 would be gone.

“When did you plan for us to leave? Is it very soon?”

“Oh! I… I didn’t actually plan that part. I’ll go get my things!” 

Zer0’s mask flashed. 

‘ :/ ‘

“Don’t forget your guns.”


	2. 2

They decided to land a few kilometers away, not wanting to threaten any inhabitants for the town, or reveal themselves too soon. Rhys waited for Zer0 at the door of the ship, patting himself down, trying to remember if he grabbed everything.

“Destination reached. Though it will be quite a long wa- What are you wearing?” 

He looked down at himself then back up, smiling, “Raider clothes! I’m tryna blend in!”

Zer0 stared at him for a few seconds before flashing a smiley face. They made their way over, holding out a shield. 

“What’s this for?”

“Transformer. A shield. Shock resistant, for your arm. Not Atlas. Sorry.”

‘:(‘

He laughed, “As long as it’s not Maliwan. That’s fine.”

“A Hyperion?” 

Rhys narrowed his eyes and elbowed them, “Don't push your luck.”

‘LOL’

“You think you could beat me, Rhysie? I’d like to see that.” 

He could feel the heat on his face, probably red as his robotic arm now. The nickname usually annoyed him, Fiona was a big fan of it, but from Zer0. Oh, Man.

Trying to get away from the subject, he laughed nervously, “Hah- Hahaha… I don’t think- I could- We should go now!” 

He opened the door and walked out as quickly as he possibly could. 

The thick air hit him as soon as he stepped out. This humidity was definitely going to mess with his hair. A tall forest of trees splayed out as far as he could see. They had apparently landed in a small clearing in the middle of all of it.

Zer0 stepped out of the ship and pointed, “Thornewood is that way.”

The trek started. 

This definitely wasn’t Rhys’ idea of fun. Walking through a dense, humid forest turned out to be a bit more challenging than he thought it would be. The raider clothes weren’t exactly helping, though he imagined one of his suits would be ten times worse. 

Wait a minute. Didn't they say it would be a day's walk? He really wasn’t prepared for this. 

But whatever. This was only the pregame. 

The whole ‘people stealing Atlas designs’ wasn’t a lie. It wasn’t. Simply enough, these guys were just copying, adding their own touches, and then selling them off. Sure, it could seriously harm his company’s image. 

However, was it enough to warrant sending an assassin to get them? Not really. Maybe just a strongly worded cease-and-desist. 

Could they read?

Rhys was lost in thought. Too distracted to notice he was in danger until he felt a hand grab him. Then he was REALLY dizzy.

Like, everything was spinning. 

“Watch where you’re going. Do you want to be spider’s prey? Not a worthy death.” 

He looked up after the dizziness subsided. A giant spider web reached between the tree trunks beside them. He had almost walked into it. Zer0 did the thing. He had done the thing. He momentarily found it hard to be excited about. Was he going to throw up? That teleporting stuff wasn’t as fun as Zer0 made it out to be.

“That… Oh, God… That’s a big spider.” 

“No. Adolescent. Mature adults are way bigger. Have more teeth as well.”

After dropping that little fun fact on him, they projected a smiley face and continued walking. 

“Wha-“ Rhys huffed and quickly scanned the area before running after them.

-

The rest of the journey there wasn’t that bad. They had a few stops to rest, only a few giant bird attacks, and only once did he trip over a tree root and almost fall on his face.

By the time they arrived it was almost sunset. He almost wondered how he didn’t hear any noises through the trees, it being a fairly large town. His mind instinctively went to the logistics. How did they get their products, food, their electricity? A few people loitered around a bar chatting amongst themselves, drinks in hand. 

“So, where do we go? Who looks like they plagiarize weapons around here?”

“You need to rest first. Humans are fragile creatures. I can tell you’re tired.”

“What? No- I’m not tired. I’m fine!”

‘:|’

“Okay… Maybe I’m… A little bit tired. Seriously, are you not?”

“Robotic leg helps.” They said nonchalantly.

“Wait- you- what?” He questioned the sudden information. Zer0 never revealed anything about what they might look like. 

They didn’t say anything else though.

While they did find an inn to stay at, this was still Pandora. It was simple, not the large shimmering cityscapes Rhys was used to now. A layer of dust settled over the lobby’s furniture.

The front desk worker, a short man that looked like he’d never smiled in his life, eyed them both.

“We only got one room open.” He said harshly.

“Oh. Lots of visitors?” 

“This time of year? No. Just renovations.” Rhys noticed the way the man’s eyes flicked to Zer0 every few seconds.

Was there still a bounty on them? He thought he had gotten all of those posters removed, but there was always a chance. 

“Well, good on you then. We’ll take the room.” He smiled.

Zer0 looked down at him, displaying a ‘:/‘ on their mask. He shrugged and took the keycard, heading off to find their room for the night.

“You were too nice, Rhys. Being nice might get you killed. Happened to others.”

“Come on. It’s fine. I was just trying to get us a room!” 

The room was very small. Holding only a small maybe full size bed, a night stand, and an armchair, it definitely wasn’t for nice, relaxing vacations.

“At least there’s no dust.” Zer0 went to check the sheets for any kind of bug.

“That’s the first thing you noticed?” 

“Is there something I don’t get? I've had worse than this.” 

Of course they had. The whole vault hunter thing. Rhys loved hearing those stories from them, but sometimes it was hard to understand it all in haiku.

“There’s only one bed… and it’s tiny. I don’t think you could fit in it, let alone both of us!” 

Zer0 looked down at the bed.

‘...’

Rhys scoffed a laugh, internally freaking out. It wasn’t like they hadn’t slept in the same room before. Back when they were all preparing for The Vault of the Traveler, the whole team was lodged up in the same tiny room. 

But somehow his heart was beating just as fast now as it was back then. At least there was no hologram to ridicule him for it. He felt his fingertips twitch.

“The bed is bug free.” A smile emoticon, “I will be back soon, do not wait. You need beauty sleep. They patted him on the head and went for the door.

“Wait! Where are you going?” 

“Something I’ve noticed. Illegal things happen at night. At least… mostly. I will return soon.”

This time it was a heart that appeared, which distracted him so much, he didn’t try to argue. He sighed after they left and fell backwards onto the bed. Mission ‘ask-them-out-you-dummy’ was definitely not going to plan. 

They seemed to be having fun though, that was a plus. Rhys couldn’t deny that it was nice to be out of the office as well. Even if this bed was almost as hard as a rock and the room felt claustrophobic and there was only a small lamp that barely output any light. It was all uniquely Pandoran. 

He kind of missed it. In fact, he’d almost want to do this more often if he didn’t know the statistic of how deadly being on this planet was. All that was missing now was the faint sound of explosions and screaming to put him to sleep and it would be exactly like last time.

He waited a beat, but none came. Well, at least he didn’t have to worry about any skags, bandits, or psychos coming after him. Rhys felt his mechanical arm twitch again and he rolled his eyes. 

Maybe some things were best left in the past. 

He fell asleep soon after.

-

He was awakened by someone shaking his shoulder. Knowing immediately that it was his vault hunter, he opened his eyes and sat up. 

He yawned and rubbed his eye, “What’d you find?”

“Thornewood has froyo.” 

“Wha-“ He blinked blearily, only to find them holding out a small cup in front of him. Rhys could have sworn his heart stopped completely. Where did they find froyo on Pandora?

“Thank you?..”

“Chocolate dill pickle.” Their mask displayed a ‘:/‘ and they turned their head, “Sadly. How do you eat that?” 

Rhys faked offense, “With my mouth! How dare you. I will not be insulted in my- Not my home. Still! You and Yvette are so mean to me!” 

“It is well deserved. I seem to have found a fair lead. Someone named Stitches.”

“Stitches? What, do they have a face fulla scars or somethin’?” He asked, mouth full of yogurt.

“I believe so, yes. Shouldn’t be too hard to locate then. Use your ECHO eye?” A question mark.

“I thought this was your mission.” 

“You wanted to come. I will put you to use helping. Or you could go home.”

“You wouldn’t.” 

Zer0 stared at him for a few seconds. They were silent before glancing to the side. 

‘///‘

“...I’ve made a mistake. You cannot see my ECHO phone... Lorelei pulled up.”

Rhys burst out laughing. At least they had tried to be threatening.

‘>:(‘ 

“Don’t make fun of me.” 

“Yeah. Yeah, totally.” He wiped a tear from his eye, “Let’s get going.”

-

It actually wasn’t easy finding this ‘Stitches’ person. They scoured the whole town looking for information, but there was little to be found. So, naturally, they tried a different method- going to the most populated market they could find and looking for people selling weapons. 

This should have been their first stop, right?

In the market there were only three stalls selling weapons. One with a man selling homemade weapons, the second an old lady with a worrying stock of rocket launchers, and another with a young girl selling a variety of types.

“Why do I have to ask them about buying guns?”

“Do you think I could? I would intimidate them. Say the vendor broke.”

“Okay, but the vending machine is clearly not broken.” 

Zer0 seemed to flicker in front of him, a sudden moment in the background and there was a slice right through the middle of the machine. Several shoppers around the market got scared or went to investigate. They spoke, right next to him once again.

“It is now broken. Try to act confident. I’ll be watching over.”

Rhys sighed and clenched his jaw, side eying the weapons vendor cart, “Right. Confidence is my second middle name.” 

The man seemed to be fairly nice, if not absolutely crazy. He spoke of the corpses in which he acquired the weapons from. Either graverobbing or straight up homicide— the usual Pandoran past time. Still, he asked how Rhys was doing, what his budget was, and where he got his scarf. 

The old woman was a silent one. Everytime he asked her a question she would either point or make some sort of gesture. He didn’t know if it was by choice or not, but didn’t press. After scanning all of the rocket launchers he found that they weren’t tampered with.

Rule of thirds, right?

He made his way over to the last stall while scanning everything on the way. Several of the guns happened to be Atlas tech. A few AX pistol models, heavily tampered with and given a half-hearted paint job. The smart-bullet system seemed to be intact though, that was a plus. 

The vendor noticed him looking. 

“Why look when you can touch? Come on over.” She smiled. Her deep set eyes seemed to watch his every move. She barely looked like an adult. There were no stitches to be seen, but her bangs covered almost half of her face, a good bet.

“Where do you get all of these?” 

She raised an eyebrow. Good one, Rhys. 

“Gather them myself— Atlas guards from the old Gortys facility stop by every now and then, carrying all those nice weapons. I’m very good at wild animal impressions. Makes ‘em run off right quick.” 

“Really? That’s… very impressive.” He picked up a revolver off the table, examining it carefully. It was definitely a Patton rip off. Which, hey, he designed himself. Piracy isn’t victimless.

The girl spoke up again, this time her voice was low and dark, “You got one of them eyes…” 

Rhys glanced up at her, the gun still in his hand, “...Oh. Yes, I do.” 

She suddenly whipped out her own pistol, aiming it straight for him. Out of surprise, he yelped and dropped the gun. He didn’t have time to react, she was too quick. The bullet fired. 

It was absorbed by the shield. 

Not a second later Zer0’s sword was against her throat. She gasped as her hands went straight to it, but knowing well enough not to touch. 

“I see the shield worked.” The assassin said, an almost happy tilt showing in their voice. They raised a hand, pulling the girl’s bangs out of her face, revealing two long scars dragging from her forehead to the hollow of her cheek. 

“Wait, are you Stitches or not? You don’t-“ 

She cut Rhys off, “I got them out years ago, why does everyone still call me that?! My name is Dianne!” 

“Ah… Sorry.” He fidgeted with his hands, straightening up, “Either way, you’re going to stop tampering with our weapons and— Zer0 you’re distracting me.”

Their mask was set at a smile, “This is entertaining to me. I cannot help it.”

Rhys tried not to smile back and faced his attention back to Dianne. He cleared his throat.

“Listen, just stop trying to add a few parts and call the weapons yours. They are not. They are Atlas copyright and property and if I hear of it again we will have to do more than just talk to you.” 

Dianne gulped, “Yeah- Okay, but… listen… I can’t… I don’t have any other way of making money! You gotta understand!”

Rhys looked down at the weapons table. Most of the time, he didn't have much of a spine when it came to saying ‘no’ face-to-face. If it was over an email, he was fine. Otherwise he’d have to have one of his friends do it. Not ideal for the CEO of a multimillion dollar corporation, but he’d been trying to get better. 

His assassin could clearly see this turmoil, “A job position?”

He looked up, “Huh?”

“She’s clearly skilled at building them. Painting needs more work.” 

“Hey!” She pouted, but then immediately remembered the sword against her neck.

They did have a point. The weapons didn’t look the best, but from what he had heard they did have some kick to them. If she was guided a bit more, she could have potential. Still, he didn’t expect the idea to come from Zer0.

“...Yeah. Maybe…” His arm twitched, “We’ll give you a shot.”

She just looked confused, “A shot with what?” 

“You... don’t know who I am?”

She shook her head, “Not you. I’ve heard of this weirdo behind me though and that’s obviously why I haven’t tried to escape.”

‘LOL’ 

“Oh, be quiet Zer0!” He flushed, “I’m the CEO of Atlas? The whole company? Offering to get your training and possibly a job as weapons designer?!” 

Dianne’s jaw dropped. He felt a satisfaction spread through his chest. That would prove his point.

“You? Really? You look like—“

“I couldn’t wear a nice suit out here, it would get ruined!” 

“I was gonna say a twink.”

“WH-“

“Can we go home now?” Zer0 interrupted, their mask devoid of anything. They lowered their sword. 

Rhys frowned, “Are you sure? This wasn’t even that much of a challenge. Do you wanna go try to find something else?”

“I am content with our efforts.”

‘:)’ 

He sighed, “Yeah. I guess we have to get her back anyway.”

They accompanied the girl to her home, which happened to be a small campsite along the way to the ship. Dianne didn’t have much, but there were a few boxes of weapons that she had stolen. Rhys tried to help carry them. He did. However Zer0 had other plans. They snatched the boxes from him the moment he tried to lift them up. Something about how he barely made it to town without passing out so he definitely wouldn’t make it back to the ship with the extra weight.

He couldn’t say he minded that much, he knew that Zer0 didn’t think him completely useless and they were looking out for him. Diane got to carry the bag of clothes and other personal items over her shoulder. It was less work on him and he got to watch their backs on the way to the ship. 

They only slowed down when they heard a deep purring from above them. 

“I hope that’s a really big cat.”

“Sadly, not likely. I think we’ve just found an adult- or it has found us.”

“Shouldn’t we run now?” A panicked whisper from Dianne. 

“A useless idea. Spiders have eight legs, they’re faster. We have to kill it.”

A shiver ran through Rhys’ body. He hated normal sized spiders enough as it was, but this? Pandora sucked. Hard. 

The spider suddenly came crashing down. It would have landed directly on top of Zer0 if they hadn’t turned out to be a decoy. The real one slid past, slicing one of its hairy legs off. 

It squealed in pain, stomping around, trying to catch them. Dianne was quick to pull out a rifle, trying to aim for its eyes, but it was scuttling around too quickly. A web came shooting towards her, slamming her against, and sticking her to the nearest tree. 

“Rhys!” She yelled, trying to wiggle out, “Ugh, this is so gross!!!” 

While Zer0 was distracting the large arachnid, Rhys managed to get a few good shots to its thorax. It was slowing down, but with its attention still on them, they wouldn’t be able to get a chance to strike. 

So, Rhys did what he did best. 

“Hey, big ugly!!! Over here!” He waved his hands in the air, trying to antagonize it. He had read years ago that they did that to establish dominance or something like that, so maybe it would work now?

He could now say from experience, that having a giant spider snap all of its eight eyes towards, and then having it scramble over? One of the worst experiences in his entire life. The subject of many of his future nightmares, for sure.

However, he tried not to show any outward panic, raising his gun and firing a few shots before trying to lead it away. It was only moments after that he heard an ear splitting screech, the ground shaking under him and the spider fell.

Rhys huffed out a breath of relief, turning around. The giant carcass was right behind him. He yelped and jumped back. 

“It is defeated.” Zer0 wiped the blood from their mask using their sleeve, the bright red ‘:)’ vanishing momentarily as they did. 

Wow. They looked amazing. 

They jumped down beside him, “Dianne is stuck in the web. We should get her out.”

Right. Definitely not the right time to ask someone out.

“Y- Yeah.” He stuttered out and walked beside them. Smooth, Rhys.

“Are you feeling well? Fought admirably today. You’re getting better.”

Rhys exaggeratedly looked around, trying to keep his cool by resorting to jokes again, “Oh, sorry, I thought Fiona was somewhere around.” 

“Ha. Very Funny. I meant it. You’re improving. Not even one scratch.”

‘<3’

Oh, God. This is where he died. He always thought it would be on Pandora.

Luckily, Zer0 turned their attention to Dianne, still stuck in the web. She was trying to wiggle her way out, but to no avail. 

“Movement won’t help you. You’re caught in a spider's web. A near perfect trap.”

They sliced through the strands, Dianne squealed at the quickness of their movement. 

They all made their way back to the ship. Their newest member asked a billion questions on the way. Mostly about what Promethea was like, the pay, where she would be staying. The CEO assured he that she’d be taken care of as long as she didn’t do anything stupid, like betraying them and selling their designs.

Back at the ship, finally, they got to relax. They were away from the threat of elephant sized spiders and other Pandoran wonders. Rhys was sitting down in the main room when he felt his arm twitch again, not just a small spasm time. His whole arm shook, fingers moving involuntary.

“Oh come on…”

He sighed, resting his forehead on his flesh hand. When this happened, all he could do was wait it out. Even the best doctors he tried said that there was nothing they could do, something was wrong ‘in the wiring.’ He knew that wasn’t the cause, he just wouldn’t tell them. A hand rested on his forearm, firm enough to keep it still, for the most part.

“He’s bothering you. Anything I can do right now? Want to take it off?”

A sad face appeared on their mask. 

“Oh… no. I’m fine. It’ll stop soon. Sorry the trip wasn’t worth it.”

“Nonsense. I had fun. Pandora’s always thrilling. Thank you for coming.”

“Why are you so nice to me?” 

“I’m your bodyguard. I don’t wish to abuse you. I do care for you.”

He didn’t even realize it when his arm stopped shaking. He knew Zer0 cared for him, it just wasn’t in the way he wanted. They stayed until he had calmed down a bit, only leaving to the flight deck when they knew he was okay. 

Of course Rhys appreciated it. He just didn’t understand. There had been so many times where he had done something stupid, or messed something up, or was a burden in general, so why were they still with him? 

Before he could start overthinking it, he decided to go check on their recruit- might as well occupy himself during the ride.


	3. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is just fluff. No I’m not sorry.

So, the Pandora plan was a bust. What else did they like? 

Cool guns? No. He wasn’t going to ask them out with a gun. They’d probably like it though. Maybe he could get his hands on a vault key and then— no. His vault days were way over. 

He sat up in his bed, an idea suddenly hitting him. Quickly, he attached his arm and pulled up his ECHO. The list was way too long, still having contacts that hadn’t even thought about in years, he should probably go through and delete some soon. Finally, he found who he was looking for.

Then he realized he wasn’t wearing a shirt and his hair was an absolute wreck. 

“Oh, damn it.”

It was an easy fix, but he put in a little extra effort to look nice. If he didn’t make a good impression then this could destroy him. 

Rhys pulled up the contact again. He’d never spoken to her. In fact, he only had her in his contacts because Zer0 had once given him her information- in case anything happened to them while on a mission and they couldn’t answer. This was nerve wracking. 

She did answer though. The screen loaded in, the blue haired woman lowered her hood.

“Hey! You.. You’re Rhys, right? Something happen to ZeeZee?” 

He tried not to laugh at the nickname. Somehow, talking to another vault hunter felt wrong. They had met in person once or twice, but never really interacted outside of that.

“No! No, they’re fine! I just-“ He tried to gather himself, “I have a few questions about them.”

Maya narrowed her eyes, “If you’re saying what I think you are then no way. You should ask them, not me.”

“Not like that! It’s just- I wanna do something special for them. You two are friends so I figured you could help me out.”

She visibly relaxed, “Oh, yeah, no problem!” 

They talked for a good hour, her droning on about their favorite activities, what food they liked, etc. He honestly felt a pang of jealousy from how much she knew about them, but pushed it down. He knew they were just friends though because Maya had something with that psycho dude, Rhys didn’t remember his name.

Unless they were polyamorous? In that case, he might be in trouble.

He heard his bedroom door crack open, not even having to look to know how it was. She never knocked.

“Gooooood moooorrning!!! Oh! You’re already awake! I brought you coffee!” Gortys held the cup tightly and lifted it towards him, careful not to stop too quickly and spill it.

“Aw, thanks, Gortys.” 

The small robot noticed the call and tried her best to be quiet, “Don't forget about your nine!” She whispered.

He smiled and nodded, waving her bye as she left. 

“So, anything else you wanna ask?”

“I think I’m good for now. Thank you.” 

“What are you doing with all this? You finally gonna ask them out?” 

He spit out his coffee just as soon as he drank it, choking on the hot liquid. Maya laughed, bringing her hand to cover her mouth.

“What’s with that reaction?” 

“How did- Why- Who told you I like them?!”

“No one had to tell me. Last time we met you spent the whole time staring at them like a love-sick puppy.” 

“I don’t- I don’t stare…” He knew that was a complete and utter lie. He did stare. A lot. 

“Maybe not all the time, but you definitely did last time. You’re not subtle either. Just remember, they like flowers, but if you’re gonna get them, avoid chamomile and daisy. Having your sniper all sneezy isn’t a good time- Accidentally shot Sal straight through the arm.”

“I- Yeah. No small… flowers.” 

She laughed once again, “You got it. Hey, good luck, Rhys.”

“I’m gonna need it. Thanks.” 

The call ended.

-

After cleaning up the coffee spilled everywhere and really getting dressed for the day, there was a meeting to attend. 

It was just to share ideas for the biannual employee appreciation party that would take place next week, nothing too serious. They would argue for an hour or two about the theme and then everyone would get assigned their part to make it happen. 

Of course, the CEO was distracted. He had to figure this out how to ask Zer0 out, and preferably as soon as possible. He didn’t know how much longer he could go without just blurting it out like a schoolgirl. 

Every time he saw them it was toture, but at the same time every second he didn’t he was wondering where they were, what they might be doing. Maybe if he just got this over with he could finally focus on work.

“What do you think, Boss?”

He snapped back to focus, “Mm. Yeah. That will work.” 

“Sweet! Graffiti partyyy!!!!” They all cheered.

Oh no. What did he just agree to? 

-

He tried. He really did try to ask them out. At one point he arranged for flowers to be delivered to them, but the truck was ambushed by a bunch of ratches and the flowers destroyed.

Another time, he got all the ingredients to make their favorite dessert, matcha green tea cookies according to Maya. They came out way too flat, Rhys soon realizing he didn’t have the right type of flour. 

Mistake after mistake after just all out dumb bad luck, he persisted. 

He just barely caught them one day, sticking his metal arm between the elevator doors just before they closed. Their mask flashed an exclamation point at the sudden clang of metal, but they didn’t draw their sword. 

“Hey, Buddy!” Rhys squeezed between the doors, “I haven’t seen you in, like, a week!”

“Week? It’s been three days.” 

“...Ah. Felt like longer I guess. Where are you headed?” 

“Hole in the exterior. Lorelei found it.”

“Hole in the- what?”

“Small, but it looks planned. Someone means to gain entrance. I’ll take care of it.” 

‘:)’ 

“No need to worry.” 

Rhys smiled back, “Yeah, I’m sure you can handle it. If you need anything though, you can always call me- if you don’t need- anything- you can- anyway!” 

The elevator was quiet for a good minute until the door slid open, they seemed to hesitate, not moving to leave. 

“Maliwan has contacted me. I thought you should know. Not my intention- My loyalty is to you. It always will be.”

Before he could ask any questions, they left. Rhys’ head spun with too much at one time. Did someone from a competitor company try to get Zer0 to switch sides? He knew in his heart, brain, in everything that had common sense, that they wouldn’t do that to him. Still, hearing them say it… kind of felt like his heart hit a stinging cactus in the best way possible. 

He didn’t realize until after the elevator doors shut that he forgot to ask if they wanted to have a movie night tonight. 

“Damn it!” 

The door slid back open.

“Woah, you good, Rhys?” 

“Yvette! I- yeah. I’m good. All good.” 

He smiled, straightening his posture. She had known him long enough to know something was up, but she didn’t question it. 

“Hey, so about the party tomorrow, what do you plan to do for clean up? I mean, that’s gotta be a nightmare for the janitors.” 

“Party- oh yeah! I- Honestly I’m not even completely sure what a graffiti party is.” 

She raised an eyebrow, “Why did you agree to it then?” 

“I was a little distracted and the agreement just- popped out of my mouth. And I said yes.” 

“Well, a graffiti party is when everyone dresses in all white and goes around with colored powders, paints, and markers, and generally makes a mess of each other.” 

“...Ah. That sounds pretty fun actually.” 

Yvette huffed a laugh, “Yeah, it does. Janitors better be getting extra pay though or they won’t feel very appreciated for an employee appreciation party.” 

“No worries, I’m sure a few people will stay to help them out afterwards!” 

“Well, I’m not. I already had to buy a whole outfit because I didn’t have any white clothes.” 

“Not my fault you don’t have taste.” He poked fun at her.

“Speaking of taste—“

“Oh no no no. Not again. I’ve bought lunch for you twice this week. I have to get back to my office and finish the stack of paperwork on my desk.”

“Why are you all the way down here then?”

Make up a good lie, Rhys. You can do it.

“I had to… ask someone a question… about their… papers.”

“...papers? What kind of papers?” 

“Very important, classified papers?”

She sighed, “I don’t need to know, but you know I’m here for you, right?”

“Yeah, I-“ The elevator door opened, “Uh, my stop. Good talk, Yvette! Don’t work too hard!”

“Don’t worry, Boss, I won’t!” She grinned as he left. 

-

Later that night, he was determined to make those damned cookies. He gathered everything up, including the right type of flour, laying it out neatly on the counter, and stared. The ECHOnet had many recipes, but he decided to just pick the highest rated and run with it. 

“Okay. Start video…” 

The chef rambled on about how their grandmother had made this recipe when they were a child, reminiscing about days after school. 

“Oh, come on. No one cares about that.”

He tried skipping ahead. There was a knock at the door. Thinking nothing of it, he welcomed them in, still looking for the actual start of the video. 

“You are still awake. Are you stress baking cookies?” 

Rhys screamed, almost knocking over the bag of sugar off the counter. 

“Did I frighten you?” 

“Wha-“ He slid in front of the ingredients, trying to hide them from view, “What are you doing here? It’s like, 10 o’ clock isn’t it?”

“I just came to check on you. What are you making?” 

“Uhhh…. You were right. Cookies.” 

“Hm. Would you like help?”

He thought it over. If he didn’t accept the cookies could turn out awful. If he did… Well, what’s the worst that could happen?

“Yeah! Uh- I could use a little help.”

“They are matcha cookies, right?”

“Yeah. I… just found the recipe and wanted to try it.”

“You’re clearly lying. It is forgiven.”

Rhys rolled his eyes, “Just- Are you going to help?” 

“Turn off the video, please. We do not need it.”

He didn’t question it, instead switching it off as told. Zer0 was a surprisingly good teacher. They explained it well, repeated things Rhys didn’t understand, and wasn’t a jerk when he got it wrong. He knew that they didn’t have the patience of a saint, but they didn’t seem annoyed in the least, even with the surprise of a badly timed arm spasm.

“Now the mix is done. Next y-“

Rhys' arm jerked involuntarily. All of the contents of the bowl were either thrown onto the floor or on Zer0 themself. His eyes widened in horror. 

‘...’

“I AM SO SORRY!” He yelled quickly. 

Zer0 stood there, covered in the mix. They laughed. Not just an emoticon, or a quick chuckle that was mostly indistinguishable from their voice filter. This was genuine, this was beautiful, and to Rhys this was probably the most embarrassing thing that could have happened.

“Payback for me killing him? I’m terror-stricken.”

‘:)’

“Ha— He’s… He’s an ass that way.” He tried to calm himself, taking deep breaths to try to make his face return to its normal color, “I guess we have to restart though… I’m… God, I’m so sorry…”

“No worries. More fun. We have all night to make them.” They started to measure out all of the ingredients again, “Now. What’s the first step?”

Rhys grinned. He was in deep, too far to ever get out. However, he couldn’t find it in himself to care. If this was the hill he died on he was at least gonna enjoy the scenery.

A few hours later, the cookies were done. It was far past the time he normally went to bed, but this was definitely worth it. They did get to watch a movie while the batter chilled, which Rhys didn’t understand why it had to stay in the fridge so long, but they absolutely insisted that it made the cookies better. Apparently, Zer0’s old friend Axton had a cameo in the movie as well. Both of them were surprised when the man showed up on screen half naked.

“Wait a damn minute…”

Rhys was cracking up, “Is- Is that the commando dude?! I guess vault hunting doesn’t pay enough bills, isn’t he a model now? Good thing I hired you.”

‘>:0’

“You don’t think I could do it? I am offended.” They feigned their offense by dramatically putting a hand to their chest. 

“Yeah, no, you could do it. Totally. Everyone would go crazy for you.” He chuckled and went to retrieve the cookies. 

Zer0 was quick to trail him, however. Maya was right about these being their favorite, they had been outwardly excited since they realized what kind they were. One of the greatest assassins ever, acting like a little kid because they got cookies, and he got to see it.

“I’ve never had these before.” Rhys hesitated.

“Why’d you make them then?” They picked one up and then froze completely.

“I just- Woah. Hey, you okay? Z?” He waved a hand in front of their mask.

The cookie completely disappeared in their hand.

“Woah! What just happened?”

“How'd you expect me to eat? I set a decoy.” They teased.

“You- oh. Oh, okay. That makes sense, actually. I didn’t even think about that. I thought it was just some sort of magic trick. You’d be a good magician.”

For the rest of the night, they watched movies and ate cookies until their stomachs hurt. Rhys suggested doing face masks, halfway though the sentence remembering that’s not exactly something they could do. Zer0, however, was a good sport. They grabbed a sheet mask from his hand and slapped it onto the screen of their mask, the bright red ‘:D’ showing up afterwards, not lining up at all

Eventually, they both passed out on the couch. It was a much needed break for the both of them. Maybe the party tomorrow would be stressful, but for now they could rest.


	4. 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally.

Rhys woke up to bright rays of sunlight shining in his eyes. He lifted a hand up to check the time, stopping when he felt a weight over him. A fuzzy blanket. He looked to the other side of the couch, but found it empty and disappointment swelled in his chest. 

When he eventually got the motivation to get up, he found he had a few hours to kill before the party. Rhys decided to go ahead and lay out his outfit then make some coffee. He always spilled at least a drop so he didn’t want to put the all white suit on just yet. However, wasn’t that the point? To mess the clothes up beyond reuse? 

He felt his ECHO ring, not even bothering to check the caller ID before answering. 

“Rhys, Bro! Hey!” 

“Vaughn, what’s up?

“So, anything interesting happen lately?” He offered a tight smile.

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, “Well I spilled cookie batter all over them, does that count?” 

“Rhys!!!” 

“I didn’t MEAN to! That stupid arm thing happened! It did make them laugh though, so… Maybe it wasn’t so bad.”

“As long as they weren’t laughing at you. Actually, I had a question to ask!”

“What is it?” 

“Can I come to the party? I mean, I’m not an employee, I know, but we’re bros! Bros come to each other's parties!”

“Yeah, of course, Bro! Do you own anything white though?”

“Don't you worry a bit, I’ve got the perfect outfit!” He paused, “Hey, I did poetry! Does that mean you’re gonna fall in love with me now?”

Rhys rolled his eyes at the jab. “Just because your rhymed doesn’t mean it’s poetry… and your rhythm is off. Probably a few syllables missing too.” 

“Yikes, I didn’t know this was an English quiz. I definitely flunked.” Vaughn laughed.

“I’m sure they could teach you sometime. I would have not been able to make those cookies without them.”

“I will PASS. Don’t want to take any attention away from you, you know, Bro? Bro code.”

“They aren’t that scary!”

“That definitely kinda are sometimes! They could snap me in half like a twig.”

“Yeah, but they won’t because you’re my friend!”

Vaughn sighed, “Maybe, you’re right. I’d still have to look up at more than a 45° angle to talk to them though. You’ll be paying for my neck surgery though. See you at the party, Bro!”

Now to prepare for the party.

-

As he arrived to help with set up, he felt like this was a bad idea. The all white suit he was wearing was definitely not meant to be dirtied, but he tried to push that down. He could always buy a new one. He also decided to cover his robotic arm in hopes of keeping any colored powder from messing it up. 

More people were here than he thought. They were blowing up balloons, setting the food table (in a separate room so as to not ruin it), and arguing over the music. 

Dianne was even there. She was practically glowing in comparison to what she looked like the first time they met. She thanked him for the job and he asked how it was going so far. The training was harsh, but he knew she could handle it. He had actually checked in with her mentor yesterday and they had said she was doing phenomenally, but he wanted to hear it from her. She signed his arm sleeve with a colorful marker and went on her way. 

He then noticed that others had started to pour in the doors. Hundreds of people had appeared in the hall within a matter of minutes. He definitely wasn’t looking forward to all of the talking he would have to do. They’d had so many of these parties that he wasn’t even expected to give speeches anymore, which he was very thankful for, but idle chit chat was still on the list.

The CEO leaned against a wall, slightly lifting himself on his toes to look around the room. He sighed when he didn’t see his target, deciding to go get a drink. Then a little robot stopped him on the way.Gortys already had powder and writing all over her, but it didn’t seem to be a bother. She actually looked so happy he was about to burst. The bright pinks, cyans, and oranges covered her. She apparently asked a few people to sign her as well. Several names spaced out throughout her metal plates, the one that stood out to Rhys was the red Ø on her left side. 

“Good afternoon, Boss! How do you do?” She yelled over the music in an excited voice.

That’s not suspicious at all. 

“Hey, Gortys. I’m good. What’s going on with you?”

She snickered to herself, “I’m the distraction!”

Rhys' eyes widened as he heard someone shout behind him and felt something hit him in the head. Cyan powder slammed over him, the dust stuck to his hair and suit. 

“HA! Bloody good job, Gortie! We got ‘em!” Lorelei let out a hearty laugh. Gortys spinning with excitement.

He shook his head like a dog, trying to get some of it off, “I am going to get so much payback just you wait!” He laughed.

“Oh that’s not all, Buddy.” Lorelei grinned and slung an arm around his shoulder, “Gortys might be the distraction for me, but I-“

He suddenly screamed, feeling something hit him straight in the heart. A dull pain as pink paint splattered from the bullet that hit him. He inhaled deeply, trying to regain his composure. 

Lorelei was once again cracking up, “You screamed like a little girl!” They held a thumbs up as they looked up to one of the balconies above them. Rhys looked up as well. Sure enough, there was Zer0 with that stupidly endearing smile emoticon, leaning against the railing holding a modified rifle, that now apparently shot paintballs. They waved. 

“I hate you both. I hope you know that. Not you though, Gortys, you’re an angel.”

“Aww, shucks! Thanks, Rhys! I’m gonna go find Loader Bot!” She spun and rolled off into the crowd.

Lorelei grinned, “Come on, Mate. We all know that’s not true. You love us! Some more than othe-“

“Hey!” He went red, “Not the time!”

“Then when is? I think I’ve put together what you’ve been doing the last week, or been trying to do anyway. Just do it, Mate! I assure you it won’t go badly.”

“How did you figure it out?”

“‘Lil ole Gortie told me about a ‘pretty blue lady’ you were talking to and what you were talking to her about. Also, you better find your friend Vaughn. Party has barely even started and I think he’s drunk his weight in alcohol the pretty bartender offered him.”

“Oh… God.”

Lorelei smiled, “So, good luck with that, yeah? And for your attempt at revenge against me. I’ll be ready.” They gave him a friendly nudge before leaving him.

Okay, so apparently everyone knew about his plan to woo his head of security other than his actual head of security. Nice. He could worry about that later. He had to find Vaughn before he trashed the place.

Rhys made his way through the crowd, a few people pulling him to the side to talk or just graffiti him. He had been right though, making a mess like this was definitely a blast. Every step he took, powder or paint splashed against his shoes.

First stop was the bartender- a woman with a heavy accent and covered in paint virtually head to toe. When he asked if she had seen Vaughn, she immediately remembered, a smile on her face. She said he had head off in the direction of the east wing. He thanked her and quickly moved on. 

Next he stopped and asked one of the janitors. The man said Vaughn had headed back towards the entrance, the complete opposite of where the bartender had said. Before heading back, Rhys asked if he needed extra help with the clean up. The janitor thanked him for his concern, but said he had already recruited several other people and bots, but right now he was focusing on enjoying the fun.

Now he didn’t know where to look. Vaughn could be anywhere in the building by now. He would stop and ask a few people here and there, either getting contradictory answers or people saying they hadn’t seen anyone like that at all.

Rhys sighed and ran a hand over his face, only to remember that it was covered in pigment and he had just smudged color all over his face, including his mouth. He spluttered, trying to get it out.

“Oh, damn it.”

He heard someone a few yards away scream suddenly. 

“HEY! Who did that?!” 

A splatter of paint right to their back. He smiled, looking up at the balcony where Zer0 was still sniping people. 

Wait. 

They could see everything from up there. Maybe they had seen Vaughn?

Yeah. That’s the reason he decided to go up there. No other reason. What other reason could there possibly be?

He walked quickly to and up the stairs, almost tripping several times. Slippery paint and staircases was definitely not a good idea. He tried not to think about the workman's compensation he’d have to pay if anyone else had the misfortune of figuring that out. 

When he got to the floor he wanted he completely froze. 

There they were. The entirety of their suit has been a stark white, even up to the mask. It seemed a bit tighter too, but that was something everyone would notice, not just him. It didn’t mean that he was staring. Only a select few people it seemed had been brave enough to even try to get any color on them as well.

Rhys ran his fingers through his hair, pushing some powder off into the floor. He cleared his throat. 

Zer0 straightened up from their sniping position. 

“Hi, Boss. Having fun?” 

He smiled, “Oh, come on, not you too.”

“I have no other motives. It’s just a question.” 

He leaned against the railing next to them, scanning the sea of people below. 

“I actually am, yeah. I had a question though.” 

Zer0 rested their rifle on the railing carefully and turned to face him.

“Have you seen Vaughn?” 

‘...’

“Ah. Indeed I have.” 

“You have?! Great! Where did he go? Lorelei said he’s drank too much, I don’t want him crashing the party.” 

“He was up here earlier. Drawing all over.” 

“Drawing?” Rhys looked around and was suddenly aware of the scribbles over the wall and floor. “Oh. Drawing. Did he get you?” 

“He’s more brave when drunk.” They projected an annoyed face as they turned their hip to show him what Vaughn had done. In Vaughn’s drunken stupor, he wrote ‘NICE ASS’ on their lower side, even including a messily scribbled arrow. 

Rhys couldn’t help but laugh, they clearly didn’t know what to feel about what Vaughn had written on them. 

“Also, Gortys ambushed me. I could not escape.” They pointed to their calf, where in bright pink marker: ‘GORTYS WAS HERE.’ He couldn’t help wonder if that was their prosthetic leg or not. 

“Aww, that’s kind of cute though. Maybe you didn’t WANT to escape.” 

“...This is possible. Even I am not immune- her robotic charms.”

Rhys laughed and nodded, “She’s special that's for sure.” 

“Vaughn went upstairs though. Fell many times on the way. Anything else, Rhys?”

“Trying to get rid of me already?” 

‘!’

“No. I just… like questions… um…” 

That was weird. 

“You should check on Vaughn.” 

They quickly turned away, a clear sign that they were done talking to him. He tried not to take it too personally. They were probably right. If he didn’t find him soon Vaughn could draw all that over the wrong thing. Or person. 

The hunt was on. Rhys ran up the stairs, with considerably less slipping than the last time. He noticed that there was a trail of the marker from before- leading straight up to the roof. 

That wasn’t a good sign. He slammed the access door open. 

“Rhys! Bro! You will never believe me when I tell you this! I might have fucked up!” Vaughn gesticulated wildly.

“Yeah, Bro, I’d never believe it. Let’s get you somewhere safer first.” Rhys treaded carefully over the wires and vents over to Vaughn.

“You gotta listen, Bro! And like- like- nooo-WAAUGH!” 

A misplaced step and he was falling. 

“Vaughn!”

Rhys leaped over and grabbed the collar of the other man’s shirt with his robotic hand. He let out a huff of relief. 

“Hey, you caught me! And I caught my Margarita!” He gripped the glass and held it to his cheek, caressing it.

Rhys struggled before finally being able to pull him to safety, both of them falling back onto the cement of the roof. He fought for his breaths as Vaughn sat up, holding his drink out to Rhys.

“Want some?”

“Bro, how are you still holding that?” He sat up and took it, downing the rest so Vaughn couldn’t drink anymore.

“Hey! That was mine!”

“You’ve had enough. I deserve it for what you just put me though.”

“So… you know? You’re not gonna kill me?”

“Why would I do that? You just tried to do it yourself.” 

“Oh. Oh thank God.” He let himself fall backwards only to hit his head on a vent. “OOWWWWW…”

Rhys sighed, “Come on. Let’s get you to bed. No way I’m letting you go home tonight.” He propped Vaughn against him to help him walk.

“Don’t you have other things… beings to do tonight?”

“What?”

“Oh… Oh no. Did they say no? Broooo…” Vaughn’s head fell against Rhys’ shoulder.

“I- I haven’t asked them yet!” He flushed.

“...And they haven’t asked you?..” 

“Why in the world would they-“ He froze. It all connected at once, “You didn’t…” 

“IIIIII- Um… I didn’t what?” 

“Did… Did you tell them?..” His eyes wide in worry.

“It was an accident! I didn’t mean to! I thought you had already asked them and I congratulated them and they were all like-“ He raised a hand and counted on his fingers, “‘What do you mean, Vaughn?’ And that’s when I knew I screwed up!”

Rhys was silent. That’s why they had acted so weird then? Did they think he was crazy now? 

“Are you mad at me?..” 

“I’m not… mad…” 

“Oh, please, don’t tell me you’re disappointed, Bro. Anything but disappointed…”

He huffed, “Let’s just… just get you to my room.” 

-

He didn’t even bother going back to the party. In fact, he tried to avoid it at all costs. If he had to see Zer0 even once again tonight he would probably spontaneously combust. 

Or at all really. What was he going to do tomorrow? Or the next day? He had to see them eventually. Maybe they’d be nice about it and just not bring it up. 

“Woah, Bro, you got a whole penthouse? Why do I always forget about that?” 

Vaughn was still drunk beyond repair. He fell face down across the couch, limb spread haphazardly. 

“If you throw up on my couch I will throw you out the window. That’s expensive leather.” 

He mumbled something in response, but with his lips pressed against the cushion it wasn’t exactly audible. 

“I’ll get you some water and toast. Don’t fall asleep yet.” 

Vaughn held a thumbs up in reply. 

Rhys somehow managed to take care of his friend while he felt the world collapsing around him. Of course he could forgive him. He had to. They were bros and he knew that he wouldn’t do it on purpose. 

However, the aching that had settled in his heart hadn’t changed since he realized what he had done. Even several hours later when Vaughn was passed out, now opting for Rhys’ bed, which he had claimed as his for the night. 

Rhys just stood on the balcony, watching a particularly rough meteor show that had come out of seemingly nowhere. Much like Zer0.

“Rhys, are you okay?” 

He screamed, and once again curling in on himself, “You have-! Haha! You have got to stop doing that!” 

“I can’t. It’s entertaining.” 

‘:)’ 

He tried not to look even when he saw the smile out of the corner of his eye. Actually, he looked anywhere else that wasn’t at them. He scanned one of the natural satellites. Wow. Waning crescent. Interesting. 

“Are we not going to talk?” 

“Wha- What’s there to talk about, Bud? Party is over, you don’t have to stay.” He said nervously, resting his elbows on the railing and covering his face.

“You know Vaughn told me.” 

Rhys let out a strangled noise from the back of his throat, voice several pitches higher when he responded. “Yeah…” 

“Was it a lie then? If so I can just drop it. Tell me-“

“No, it- it wasn’t a lie. I- just- I-“ He exhaled sharply, “Listen, we can just not talk about it if you want. I get it. It’s weird and I shouldn’t feel this way or whatever. I- just do… and I’m not sure if I can stop. So, if you wanna leave, I get it. If you stay, I won’t even mention it again. I’ll shut up about it forever.” 

Zer0 was quiet for a minute or two. A silence that was absolutely unbearable to the CEO. 

“...What about Sasha?”

He fidgeted, “I- I just poured my heart and soul out to you and you ask about Sasha? Wha- What about her?”

“I… thought... You were dating her? Your desk- the picture…”

“The picture on… Oh no.” Rhys ran his hands through his hair, “I- Sasha sent me that as a gag birthday gift! I don’t- we’re not-!”

“You are not dating?”

“No! Nononono! I haven’t seen her in person for years!”

“Oh…”

Rhys bit his tongue, “You’re missing a- a few syllables there…”

“Are you sure about this? It’s dangerous…”

“Hey, we survived a vault monster, Pandora, countless boring meetings, bad sushi from that place downtown… I know it’s dangerous... That’s not- not what I’m worried about…”

“Why are you worried?”

Time for him to look at Zer0 like they were crazy, “What- what do you mean why am I worried?! I’m not good with rejection! I just ruined this- this whole whatever it was that we had and you probably hate me now!”

“Rhys,” They sighed, lifting a hand to wipe some paint from his face, “I couldn’t hate you. I feel the same way.

“...You- you what now?..”

“I didn’t voice it, thought you had other interests. I apologize.” 

“You— Holy shit… what?”

Their mask displayed ellipsis for a moment before changing to a heart. Rhys could have sworn all the air from his lungs was ejected out of him.

“I’m aware of this, in breathtaking certainty, that I feel the same.”

Another silence. Not suffocating or dark like the last. 

“I- I don’t know what to do... I didn’t think I’d get this far.”

“For now, you should rest. You look like you will soon faint.”

“I think I might, yeah.” He breathed out a laugh, trying to comprehend what was happening. 

Zer0 projected another smile, “Then I have no choice.” 

“Wha- WOAH!” 

Rhys was swooped up from the ground into their arms. He gripped them tightly, not wanting to fall. 

“Is this an excuse to hold me?” He weakly flirted, not confident at all.

“Most definitely.”

He thought his internal screaming would turn external at this point. He hid his face in Zer0’s neck, “Vaughn already passed out. On my bed…”

They stopped their trek to his bedroom and immediately turned for the front door, “You’ll have to sleep in mine then. A true misfortune.” 

Rhys laughed, knowing by now that they were being sarcastic. His heart was still hammering against his chest and a million questions raced through his head. All he could really think about though was how he was dating Zer0. 

“Wow… So- I’m- I’m yours then?” 

“And I am yours, Rhys. If you will have me.”

“That wasn’t the right format.” He grinned.

“I think you’re worth breaking rules.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed because I’ve been staring at this for two days and I finally think I’ve nothing more to add. :) 
> 
> I have two more ideas for this pair, but haven’t even started writing them yet. Hopefully I get to between my two jobs tonight.


End file.
